Spectre of HIV/AIDS looms on Children's Day
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 13 2011: While November 14 is a day of joy and celebration for children across the country, it carries little or no meaning to a great many children who have been betrayed by fate.

For Rina and many children like her, Children's Day or not, November 14 will come and go away as another day filled with despair and hopelessness.

Rina (not real name) lost both her parents to HIV/AIDS and is being looked after by her grandmother.

"Grandma always tells us she would not be able to send us to school from next year.

Even though I wish to continue my study, I'm helpless", said Rina in a very gentle voice.

"Our Grandma has grown too old.

It has become a huge burden for her to feed and send four of us to school", she conveyed.

Rina's parents left behind five children including herself.

Rina's eldest sister has been adopted by their aunt.

Together with her two elder sisters and one younger brother, Rina has been staying their grandmother.

While Rina's second eldest sister is totally illiterate, her third eldest sister is reading in class VII while her younger brother is studying in class II.

Rina is studying in class IV .

All their educational expenditures and other necessities are being looked after by their aged grandmother who sells vegetables and works as a daily wage labourer.

At one time, three of the siblings of the Rina got some assistance for their education from Project Chaha in the form nutrition support, education, school uniforms, school fees etc.

However, the project expired in March this year and the children have not received any form of assistance from any quarter.

With no one to turn, it has become an impossible responsibility for the aged grandmother to send the four children to school.

Rina has been taking ART drugs every morning at 7.30 .

"No proper classes are conducted in Government schools and there are very few teachers.

So I asked my Grandma to send me to a private school", Rina said.

As she does not have any bicycle and with her grandmother not placed to afford any sort of transportation, Rina went to school on foot every day which is a journey of about 3 Kms.

Speaking to media persons in the office of Manipur Network of Positive People at Yaiskul today, one woman who has been looking after a boy of 14 years said that even though both parents find it hard to cater to the needs of a child, she has been living together with the boy left behind by her elder sister as she cannot abandon the boy to his own fate.

The boy is studying in a private school, and for this his aunt has been paying Rs 200 every month as tuition fee.

Notably, as per the Epidemiological Analysis of HIV/AIDS published by MACS, 38,016 people have been living with HIV/AIDS in Manipur.

Out of these 10,109 are women and 2578 are children.

However, reports compiled by NGOs put the figure of HIV infected children at 6000 approximately.

Manipur Network of Positive People's president L Dipak said that some children born with HIV have reached the age of 22 .

He lamented that there is no State policy for the children living with HIV as well as for the children whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS.

These children, like other children, need nutritious food, proper education and timely medical treatment but they do not enjoy any of these requirements.

Children welfare schemes taken up by Social Welfare Department and Education (S) Department have not reached children infected/affected by HIV/AIDS.

There is no counsellor in Manipur to give proper counselling to these children.

Dipak further sought immediate attention of the Government towards the plight of these children.

He said that they have approached the Planning Commission to reflect all these problems, issues and basic requirements of children infected/affected by HIV/AIDS in the 12th Plan.

The matter has also been forwarded several times to the National Commission on Protection of Child Rights, he added.

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